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Your content is going nowhere unless people can search for and find it, so content should be written with an understanding of factors such as SEO and aimed at the right audience groups. The steps below will highlight how to drive more traffic to your site, building a connection between your brand and your audience. By the time you have finished reading this tutorial you will have a better understanding of how you can ultimately improve your rankings amongst the competition, boost your visibility and capitalise on the right audience through your content. 01. Get organised Google Calendar is a great place to start when looking to create an editorial plan. Creating an editorial calendar enables you to prioritise your content tasks, getting into a cadence with your blog-publishing and social activity. More importantly, it keeps your audience engaged by preventing your content from stagnating or being repetitive. Organisation is absolutely crucial for success, although your content plan won’t always be easy to stick to. Start by setting up a calendar, then brainstorm ideas: what questions can you answer? What themes are relevant? How can you inspire? Break down your content into social posts, blog posts, onsite copy, referrals, video and so on. And layer on top of this your promotion, since content rarely succeeds on its own, and plan your frequency: daily, weekly, monthly. 02. Buyer personas – understand who your audience is Personas and user stories will help with content and, in turn, SEO. The focus of your content should be aimed at the audience group that contributes to the success of your business. Content will therefore be different based upon where the user is along their journey. A first-time visitor, for example, has no loyalty to the brand; hence the focus should be on inspirational content to convert – content and metas – and brand values to nurture. Existing clients, meanwhile, have a different set of priorities and needs, so content needs to be served differently. Nurturing them, encouraging advocacy and facilitating the ability to upsell are the keys in driving both customer satisfaction and further sales. 03. Learn from the competition Look at your competition and take inspiration from it. By reviewing the top performing organic content around your targeted keywords, you can take advantage of what works and then replicate it. Understanding the competition’s focus on content and keyword terminology will also help you to close the gap between those terms you're not taking advantage of, and ultimately increase the amount of traffic coming to your own domain. 04. Make sure you follow the 70:20:10 content rule Spend some time on Quora since it will highlight how people speak in their niche communities. Google's 'hero, hub, hygiene' approach is based on three types of content and offers a useful framework for an effective content strategy. Here's how it works. 70 per cent of your content should be specific to your business vertical and services (hygiene) because your audience needs that information to convert. It’s your day-to-day, always-on messaging and includes industry news, reviews and offers. 20 per cent of your content should be inspirational (hub) so that your visitors share it. It aims to develop a shared passion between you and your audience, keeping them coming back for more. You can do that by creating unique content that exceeds your visitors’ expectations. Think of inspiring solutions, solving problems and answering the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of your business, and how it can best serve your visitors. 10 per cent of your content should be risky enough that it scares you a little (hero). It can attract enormous numbers of visitors, and you'll need to invest a lot of time and effort into it. This may be content related to the most important event or product launch of the year. 05. The content and SEO overlap There is no point in creating content if no one can find it. An easy way to ensure the success of your content marketing efforts and improve the search ranking of a particular post is to optimise the on-page elements by applying key SEO techniques. None of your content is going anywhere unless people can search for it and find it, therefore content should be written with an understanding of SEO goals. This includes a healthy solid foundation, content on the website targeting the right keywords and relevancy within the metas, such as: title tags, headers, meta descriptions, image alts and a good URL structure. With these working together you will be able to rank for the right keywords, with visitors that actively convert, since the success of each depends on the other. 06. Internal links and backlinks Link building has always been key to climbing that Google rank. Internal links help search engines identify the site’s most important content, provide context and help your audience by directing them to the most relevant pages. Make the most of anchor text within your links, with variations of your target keywords to boost rankings. The number of backlinks (incoming links, directed at your website) is another positive indicator to search, in particular websites that carry similar content (topical relevance). Start link-building both internally and externally with your best content to improve ranking. 07. The impact of a blog Blog pages are a great opportunity to create keyword-rich content. Incorporating a blog into a website can have a huge impact on the overall website’s search engine rankings. Not only does it add keyword-rich pages, but it also increases the potential for incoming links from high-quality websites, as well as advocacy from your audience as they share that content with their networks. Aim for original and high quality content, since this will go a long way towards satisfying both the needs of your audience and the search engines. And remember, given the number of distractions that your audience faces daily, strong headlines are key to encouraging their inspiration to click within a crowded marketplace. You can achieve this by understanding your audience’s pain points. Solve their problems in a way that seems tailored to them, and give them both actionable insights and inspiration. 08. Remember visual content Images and video are now a mainstay of any reputable website. Visual content – such as images, video and infographics – can be a very powerful tool for any brand looking to communicate more effectively with its readers; especially since it can have a very positive impact on your brand’s reach, engagement and sales. Start by splitting up body text with compelling imagery (include image Alts) to encourage your audience to finish reading and boost your search engine ranking. Infographics also help to collate content into compelling and easily intelligible visual displays. Your site visitors will also expect you to offer video content. Show your personality as you connect with them while providing information that meets their needs. How-to videos, demonstrations and customer testimonials are all opportunities to consider. 09. Create a promotion plan Social promotion is one way to reach audiences and engage with them. Place a promotion plan behind your best content to improve audience engagement. This includes: Paid traffic that offers immediate results: Focus on the content synergy between advertising text, landing page copy and SEO metas. This will improve placement, by improving the quality score. Social media that offers great brand awareness: Review your brand guidelines, tone of voice, targeted demographic reach and audience needs and wants. Influencers who can share your content and increase your outreach to engaged communities: Understand where your audience is and let them know you exist. 10. Measuring the success of your content is crucial Learn from your successes and failures with careful analysis. Assess both the positive and negative metrics within Google Analytics, continually evaluating your content’s appearance in search and how users ultimately interact with it. Build on the positives; learn from the negatives. This includes ‘soft’ metrics that are focused on measuring engagement, interaction and brand awareness. Look for bounce rates (high and low), time on page (high and low averages) and page views (in particular, redirection). And ‘hard’ metrics, such as lead generation, shares, the number of people added to your list and sales impact. The aim is to continuously learn from each content creation, setting and reviewing goals for each, and remaining agile. This article was originally published in issue 269 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 269 or subscribe to Web Designer. Related articles: Everything you need to know about SEO 5 top tools to master SEO 10 inspiring ecommerce website designs View the full article

Some people just know how to get things done. If you want to be that person, you need to grab the Project Management Professional Certification Training Bundle. You can get it on sale now for 98 per cent off the retail price. Dive into the 10 in-depth courses of the Project Management Professional Certification Training Bundle. You'll quickly find everything you need to prove your skills as a project manager and to make sure you’re learning all the skills you need for this career. It will provide you with over 110 hours of knowledge about project management. This bundle is built to prepare you to manage your way to success regardless of your field, and will make sure you’re ready to prove your skills with industry-recognised certifications. The Project Management Professional Certification Training Bundle is valued at $2,990 but you can save a whopping 98 per cent off the retail price right now. That means you pay just $49 (approx. £35) for a bundle that will help you climb the ladder in the career you want, so grab it today. About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at:deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: Top tips for nailing project management Best project management software The tools of the trade for project management View the full article

This article was originally published in March 2017. During my time as a graphic designer, I've experienced nearly everything – short of physical violence – that working life can throw at you: recessions, legal disputes, defaulting clients, and of course, the thrill that comes with completing a successful project. But two events – both of which turned the practice of graphic design on its head – stand out as life changing. The first was the arrival of the Macintosh computer. For all practising designers at the time, computerisation necessitated an extensive rethink of the craft: no more mechanical artwork, no more paste-up, no more typesetters, no more expensive retouchers. Many of the tasks previously done by repro houses were taken over by designers sitting in front of computer screens. It was the beginning of a new age of digital self-reliance and a period of massive reorientation. The second event was the arrival of the internet. Here was a new way of thinking about, and making design. Suddenly, designers no longer had complete control over how their work was received. The inability to control browser use, screen ratios and fonts had a decisive impact and old rules such as the number of characters per line length rule became redundant. Even the users themselves could mess with the appearance in ways unthinkable to designers trained in print design, where layouts were fixed once they left the designer's hand. Is VR the future of design? These two events threatened to shrink the role of the designer, but the opposite happened. There are now more graphic designers and students than ever before. Design is a global industry embedded in, and inseparable from, business and culture. For many, graphic design is as much a lifestyle choice as a career choice. We do it because we love it. The rise of automation If design and designers can be said to have benefited from these two shocks in the long run, there are concerns that the craft and the profession might not survive quite so well. Is design about to meet its Uber moment? Is AI about to take on the role of the designer? Is the surge towards a fully automated world about to engulf design? It might seem that automating the design process is impossible. You might assume that the creative imagination is the least likely arena to be taken over by machines, that bots are for routine production, not conceptual thinking. In reality, the process is already underway. "It might seem that automating the design process is impossible... In reality, the process is already underway" Social media has usurped many of the roles previously done by designers. You can start a business with a Facebook page (or as one expert calls them "Facebook pages … the new small-business homepage"). For many, access to a Twitter or Instagram account is all the design they need. The automation of countless realms of everyday life is already at an advanced level: entire factories are operated by robots; legal contracts and stock market trading are routinely done by bots; automated warehouses, ATMs, and user operated supermarket tills mean fewer jobs in industries once regarded as high volume employers; driverless vehicles signal the end for the millions of people who drive for a living. Why should design be any different? Robots are probably going to take your job. Deal with it In the book, Inventing the Future, Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams state that: "anything from 47 to 80 per cent of jobs are likely to be automatable in the next two decades." They also note that the "roboticisation of services is now gathering steam, with over 150,000 professional service robots sold in the past 15 years. Under particular threat have been routine jobs – jobs that can be codified into a series of steps." The demise of web design Surely this lets design off the hook? We can't expect machines to make the irrational, gravity-defying leaps of imagination that designers make, can we? What about the designer's ability to capitalise on accidents and unforeseen coincidences? Surely this sort of cognition is beyond the bot? Not so. We live under the dictum that anything that can be automated will be automated. And nowhere in the design world is this idea more advanced than in web design. In a post titled Why Web Design is Dead, on the website UX Magazine, designer Sergio Nouvel notes the following. "Most of the content you see on the web today is run by some framework or service – WordPress, Blogger, Drupal, you name it. Frameworks provide you a foundation and shortcuts so you spend less time struggling with the creation of a website, and more time creating content. As a consequence of the ubiquity of these frameworks, a world of free and paid templates lets you start with a professional-looking design in minutes. Why hire a web designer if you can achieve a fairly acceptable design for a fraction of the cost using a template?" The Grid, a San Francisco and Berlin-based startup, was the first to announce that it has created a website builder that uses artificial intelligence. It enables users to upload images and text or make use of its library of colour combinations and images, and then, using AI, it performs all the key design functions: positioning of images, placement of text, selecting colours and sculpting a unique, customised website. The Grid says it doesn't use templates, but 'layout systems', which it claims offers greater flexibility. With The Grid, if you don't like what you see, you hit the Redesign button and in seconds a different layout appears. The Grid's promotional video gives the impression of effortless, nearly instant success. It's a seductive pitch. But not everyone is impressed. Various webinars offer a less convincing glimpse into The Grid's AI approach to web design. Watching these critical takedowns, I was reminded of the early days of DTP design – gap-toothed typography and bitmapped images. But the painful DTP birthing phase didn't last long. Designers mastered the software, the software improved, and so did computing power. You wouldn't lose money betting on AI websites becoming much better in the future. A grit-free process It's easy to see why clients would be attracted to this grit-free process. There's no more time spent listening to pesky designers defending their design decisions, no more waiting around for new designs to arrive. And here's the clincher: no more redesign fees. Instead, clients inhabit a fragrant world of endless iteration and seemingly limitless choice. The Grid is not alone in its quest. In September 2016, the website Tech Crunch reported that Canva, a design platform for web and mobile, had announced a new infusion of $15 million in funding and a doubling of its valuation in 12 months. This added capital was reported to have brought Canva's valuation up to a whopping $345 million. What makes Canva so attractive to the guys with the money is the fact that it can be used by non-designers. Canva claims it only takes 23 seconds to become a proficient user of its software. 10 million people are allegedly using it to design business cards, posters, presentations, and graphics for social media. Looking at the formulaic design featured on the site, it's hard to take seriously claims that 'anyone can become a designer' with Canva. It's easy to laugh at some of the work these sites post as examples – most of it looks as if it has been designed by someone on autopilot. But will we be mocking in five years' time? When we look at what is happening in AI, it seems foolish to dismiss attempts to automate design. AI-driven design When I talk to designers about the likelihood of AI taking over the tasks of designers, I'm met with scepticism. But this strikes me as short-sighted. In a detailed account of Google's work in AI, published in the New York Times Magazine, the journalist Gideon Lewis-Kraus writes about the company's use of artificial intelligence to transform Google Translate. Anyone who has used the translation service will know that its results are hit and miss, always require correction, and are rarely idiomatically correct. All that is changing. In its new AI-driven version, Google Translate is producing astonishing results. Developed by the Google Brain team, 'artificial neural networks' (much like those in our skulls) are offering an alternative to traditional computer programming and represent a move towards self-learning machines. Using these networks, robots can then acquaint themselves with the world via trial and error in the same way that children do, giving machines "something like human flexibility." Lewis-Kraus reminds us of Alan Turing's famous test for an artificial general intelligence: "A computer that could, over the course of five minutes of text exchange, successfully deceive a real human interlocutor. Once a machine can translate fluently between two natural languages, the foundation has been laid for a machine that might one day 'understand' human language well enough to engage in plausible conversation." Google Translate has been transformed by AI If Google's new translation service is close to fulfilling Turing's criterion, then it's not much of a stretch to imagine AI tackling more sophisticated design problems than shifting elements around on a webpage. Most of the everyday design we encounter can be broken down into a simple set of principles that can be codified, and it seems highly probable that a machine can learn the rules of typography, the golden ratio and the rule of three. And it's no gamble to assume that cost-culling businesses will latch onto the money saving benefits of AI design. Adapt to survive What should designers do? AI-driven design already has the potential to remove some, or most of the production based tasks that designers do. Need 100 web banners for a global ad campaign, all with different information and numerous different languages? No problem. Robots capable of handling such routine tasks will result in fewer design production people. But will the sharp end of design be affected? Eventually, yes, and just as human beings have learned to do since the introduction of industrialisation, we must adapt. It's my belief that designers are well equipped to do this. Teaching flexibility and a willingness to learn may be the biggest challenge facing the world's design schools. In the information age, we may be looking at a world without paid work Of course, this doesn't only apply to design. In the information age, we may be looking at a world without paid work. This takes us into the political realm, and subjects that governments are avoiding. It poses questions such as adopting a basic income, and the relearning that will be needed when the post-industrial world is replaced by one of unlimited leisure. These topics are discussed in academia and future-gazing think tanks, but we all need to be thinking about them sooner rather than later. Halfway through writing this, I had a sudden, sobering glimpse into a machine-driven world. My five-year-old iMac died. The screen went black, none of the usual remedies helped and it was Christmas, so there was no chance of emergency repairs. It was a personal mini-disaster. But this is what happens to machines: they break. Perhaps their fallibility is the only thing between us and an AI future. This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 263; buy it here! Related articles: 10 skills graphic designers need to get ahead in 2018 The future of web design 10 huge graphic design trends to know for 2018 View the full article

There are constantly new and unique developments in the fast-moving CG industry. With software updates arriving all the time and fresh techniques to hone, it’s important to stay on top of your game. As head of motion graphics at Escape Studios, and an independent director and motion designer, I have more than 15 years of experience working on advertising, films, TV, video games and multimedia. 7 motion graphic design trends to look out for Here, I've pulled together some top tips to offer advice on how to really hone your motion graphic skills, and take them to the next level. 01. Don't be afraid to make mistakes The creative process is all about trial and error. It’s important to brainstorm your ideas and sketch them out on paper to really work through each element. Breaking things down and perfecting your skills will enable you to really see what might need changing, ultimately speeding up the process. It will also help you save time working on it in later with the software. 02. It's not just about one set of skills This may be obvious but it’s really important: throughout your motion graphic work you will need to have a strong knowledge of graphic design and as much knowledge of filmmaking as you can get. Arming yourself with this knowledge will ensure you are ready for any challenge that may come through. 03. Become an expert in typography Blay created the title sequence templates for the final Hobbit film – in 15 different languages A motion graphics artist should have a strong understanding of typography and typography terms. Type is widely used as a form across motion graphics, and in some cases it may be that this is all that’s used to convey the product to the audience. So it’s important to understand what the audience will engage with, ensuring that the graphic stays with them. Thankfully, there are plenty of typography tutorials to help you get started. Typographic trends in motion graphics 04. Experiment with 3D As well as 2D, it is now more important than ever that artists really build their knowledge in 3D and learn how this can be used in the design process. With the industry constantly changing, it's key to offer a wide range of options and ensure you can constantly deliver new and exciting work. Why graphic designers should learn 3D 05. Inspiration is everywhere Remember to focus time on exploring new trends and techniques to draw inspiration from; know the industry and understand what game and film studios are delivering. Digest other media, books, films and TV to draw on trends in order to ensure your work stays at the top of the game. This article was originally published in 3D World magazine issue 216. Buy it here. Related articles: 5 best motion graphics plugins for After Effects Stunning motion graphics highlight global unity The 12 best graphic design podcasts View the full article

Security risk in extensible text editors enable hackers to abuse plugins and escalate privileges. View the full article

Threatpost's Tom Spring sits down with Flashpoint and Akamai to discuss how the two companies worked together to address the 2016 Mirai DDoS attacks. View the full article

In the web industry, things change quickly. As technologies progress and processes change, new job roles pop up. The current hot role is user experience design, but is that job title set to disappear as quickly as it emerged? Here, we look at the brand new job specialisms set to rise in popularity and shape the way we approach web design and development in the future. 01. Full-stack designer Similar to full-stack web developers who code for both front- and backend technologies, full-stack designers will have skills in multiple design disciplines. The emergence of this role is already motivated by employers needing to become more efficient with their budgets, whether it’s to be more price competitive or deal with budget cuts (as in public sector organisations). Full-stack designers will offer better value to employers. Being able to tackle several specialisms means there's no need to employ a different person for each role, which inn turn means a more efficient workflow. There's less time wasted waiting around for other team members to complete a task; a full-stack designer can simply switch between roles depending on what's required at the time. 02. Scientific designer Turning data into something understandable is a particular skill They say knowledge is power – whether that’s for PR communications, making business decisions or helping people live a healthy lifestyle. With the rise of digital technology and the internet we can now capture more data than ever before. The problem with data is that it’s just data. While some have no problem making sense of data through statistical analysis techniques, the average person can only see nonsense. This is where the role of scientific designer emerges: to turn data into knowledge through easy-to-understand visuals or infographics. 03. Intelligent content author Our devices are getting more and more intelligent The opposite of a scientific designer, an intelligent content author will produce content that either captures or reacts to data. AI is set to change the face of UX design, and intelligent authors are the ones who'll be tasked with helping content adapt itself to what it knows about users. Data will come from multiple sources, including popular digital assistant technologies such as Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant. Design content will be hosted either independently or as part of an external platform – for example the chatbots for Facebook’s Messenger service. For more on this phenomenon, take a look at our article on UX design trends for 2018. 04. Instructional designer Instructional design is a combination of graphic and UX design, but with a primary focus on delivering content for learning. This type of design can be applied to all forms of digital media, from web pages to ebooks and apps. The obvious role for instructional designers is in supporting education organisations such as universities, who may want to create custom content for their courses. Additional demand for instructional design is likely to emerge as more businesses embrace technology – for example, with self-service supermarket checkouts – hence needing content to instruct their customers. 05. AR/VR designer Affordable headsets have brought VR into the mainstream The emergence of smartphones and the availability of affordable AR/VR headsets has opened up these technologies into the mainstream. Programmes for marketing, education and other activities have an opportunity to benefit from this medium through providing memorable experiences that engage their audiences. But a medium is only useful if content is available to grow its potential – hence the role of AR/VR design as a specific design specialism. This article was originally published in creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 270 or subscribe. Related articles: UX lessons you can learn in the toilet The best JavaScript frameworks 24 top Sketch plugins View the full article

“Good artists copy, great artists steal.” It’s a quote that's often attributed to Pablo Picasso, and has famously inspired the likes of Steve Jobs. But while it’s a memorable zinger, the line touches on a prevalent issue in the design industry: where do we draw the line between a coincidence, or imitation, and outright plagiarism? Plagiarism isn’t a new problem for designers, but already this year we've seen a new spate of high profile brands become tagged as creative copycats. With even the most obscure source material being dredged up on social media, and rightfully defended if a new piece of work emerges that bears more than a passing resemblance, there's more pressure than ever for creatives and brands to play fair. Do your research More than a coincidence? One of the most notable and bizarre incidents of uncanny design similarity occurred in January, when a keen-eyed Reddit user noticed a resemblance between the new Formula 1 logo and a pack of 3M compression tights. Both feature an 'F' logo with a comparable curve, but is this an example of big brand plagiarism or something more innocent? The story spread like wildfire at the start of the year, with industry-leading names including Johnson Banks' own Michael Johnson weighing in to discuss the perils of trademarking logos. We caught up with Johnson to hear how coincidences can arise, despite a designer’s best intentions. “It’s very easy to have a knee-jerk reaction to an example like this,” says Johnson of the brouhaha between Formula 1 and 3M. “Yes, they look similar. Yes, they both use a lined ‘F’, both are italic. But, technically speaking, even though 3M filed their registration early last year, their registration itself is buried very deep in the US trademarking machinery – and is for medical clothing. It only seems to exist in one picture of some point of sale, and isn’t even on 3M’s website.” Start off trying to do something new, rather than something that seems familiar Michael Johnson “Now, Wieden + Kennedy [the independent advertising agency behind the Formula 1 rebrand] tell me that they did thorough trademark checks in all their relevant categories – but imagine for a moment the enormity of that task." "There are 45 different classes of goods and services, and 29 image classifications – and that’s just in Europe. The US system is slightly different, and in some countries registration is still done on paper and fax! So, factor all that in, and it’s easy to see how one single application for medical clothing slipped past the eyes of the checkers.” Johnson adds that a delay between registrations being applied for and granted also allows for clashes to be spotted. Research, then, is plays an important part in the design process as it prevents headaches further down the line, but where do designers start? Five-pronged approach When it comes to checking whether or not a potential piece of branding has been done before, Johnson has a five-pronged approach up his sleeve. Try to do something new, rather than something that seems familiar. Scour logo and symbol books for designs that have been done before, and try to mentally ‘log’ them (but don’t copy them). Do basic logo searches online – but bear in mind these are not definitive and only give you a broad indication. Train yourself to use trademark databases that are publicly available. (Watch out, they're tough to use). Or, employ a professional. Damage control The Tokyo 2020 logo was scrapped and redesigned Sometimes, despite a designer’s best efforts and intentions, a design can be released that appears similar, if not practically identical, to another piece of creative work. Cue a barrage of social media outrage. Practically speaking though, what options to designers and studios have? Should you lick their wounds and start all over again, or do both parties enter stalemate and wait for the other to budge? “You have to look at this from two directions,” says Johnson. “Obviously, from a creative point of view, it’s embarrassing if a design looks uncannily similar to something that already exists. But – if they genuinely hadn’t seen it – and the original wasn’t registered, we then get into muddy water.” “As far as I understand, you have a genuine copyright claim if your design has been seen and used for seven years, and then you have a degree of legal ‘claim’ if something appears that’s too similar,” Johnson adds. “But if your design has lain buried in a portfolio website, unseen really by anyone but your mum and your auntie, it gets much harder.” You have a genuine copyright claim if your design has been seen and used for seven years Michael Johnson A notable example of the difficulties two designs have run into trouble due to their similarity is the fiasco surrounding the Tokyo Olympics logo. Unveiled in 2015, the design of a stylised, seriffed letter ‘T’ was binned after a plagiarism row when Belgian designer Olivier Debie flagged up its similarity to his logo for Theatre De Liege. As with the Formula 1 logo, the internet descended into a witch-hunt as people decided whether or not the two designs were more than just a coincidence. “Now, ask yourself,” says Johnson, “how was a designer in Japan to have known of a symbol in Belgium, that was only two years old, in a different sector, that probably wasn’t registered anyway? That would have meant doing a worldwide symbol search for every ’T’ logo ever designed, in every class and category?” “As it happens, the proposed design was withdrawn and Debie has dropped his lawsuit, doubtless realising that he was on sticky, and expensive, legal ground. He may feel that his was a moral victory though.” Keep your cool Social media shed light on these startling similarities Looking at the situation from a different angle, what’s the best course of action to take if a piece of design for, say, a huge movie franchise, is released and it looks like it’s borrowed a lot of elements from a piece of work you did years ago? That’s exactly what happened earlier this year when the typographic posters for Solo: A Star Wars Story were unveiled. Initially designers were quick to praise the posters, which were an original spin on an established franchise. It wasn’t long though until designer Hachim Bahous took to Facebook to point out the similarities between the posters and a series of album covers he created for Sony Music France in 2015. It’s an understandable course of action to take in the heat of the moment, but given that the internet makes it blindingly fast to share your outrage, you might want to think twice before posting a status update. Posting ‘your design’ into the comment string of a blog doesn’t achieve anything Michael Johnson “Be careful before you plaster your ‘original’ all over social media,” warns Johnson. “Posting ‘your design’ into the comment string of a blog doesn’t achieve anything. First of all – is your design registered and trademarked? If so, is it trademarked in the same categories? If not, this will be an issue.” “If it isn’t trademarked, you may be able to make an ‘infringement of copyright’ claim, but the design has to be either seven years old, or have been done for a world-famous company. Failing all of this, you could try to simply embarrass those you feel have ripped you off – but you will end up coming across as essentially naive and possibly a bit desperate.” When to take action Johnson Banks encountered a design that resembled their Mandagrams project One of the biggest difficulties with plagiarism is knowing when to take legal action. It’s a dilemma that affects everyone from small designers to the biggest studios, and it’s made all the worse by the blurred boundary between what’s merely similar and what’s outright theft. Even a studio like Johnson Banks can struggle to know how to proceed in the face of imitation. “When we did our ‘Mandagrams’ research project in 2009/2010, we took certain Mandarin characters and expressed their pictogrammic roots,” Johnson explains. “The work was shared online, and was part of an exhibition in Shanghai – so it was ‘seen’ but possibly not outside a design and education audience. We didn’t think to register the design – but two years later, ‘Chineasy’ launched with essentially the same idea.” “Did they know of our work? Almost certainly. Do they answer our emails/tweets? No. Is it worth us making a legal claim? Well, it would rest on us being able to prove that our idea was unique, and had been ubiquitous for years – both tricky to argue, and very expensive.” Trademark registration seems to beats copyright Michael Johnson To compound the issue, Johnson adds that there is a huge amount of disinformation around the whole topic of plagiarism. “Designers of all ages don’t really realise the issues faced in this area,” he says. “Yes, it’s annoying when something comes up that seems to have ripped you off – but take care before you start any form of legal action. I think it all comes down to the fact that, whilst ‘copyright’ does lie with whoever has created a particular logo, trademark registration seems to beats copyright.” “The two big lessons for all of us are that, one: you should start off trying to design something that hasn’t been done before – it’s much easier to protect. And two: however great you think that logo is, there’s a chance that it’s been done before.” “For our big identity projects, once we're down to our final two or three favoured designs, we’ll always recommend doing trademark searches at that stage – prior to final decisions. Yes, it might knock out a favourite. But better to know early than late, don’t you think?” Related articles: When does inspiration turn into plagiarism? Plagiarism website shames logo thieves How to fight back against image fraud View the full article

We all have dreams and goals, but what’s stopping you from achieving them? Well, for many people, quite a lot actually. the mortgage. Self-doubt. Low energy. The seeming unavailability of hours in a day. The demands of children, or parents. Lack of skills or experience. Feeling that you’re too old, or too young. But while these are all genuine, real-world issues, they shouldn’t be the death knell for your creative ambitions. Here, we’ll walk you through some of the most common challenges in pursuing your dreams, suggest ways to overcome them, and hear from creatives who’ve done just that. Challenge 01: Finding the time In his book Launch It, Shane Mielke says your time isn’t as limited as you think. Let’s deal with the most common issue first: finding the time. Whenever you want to achieve something outside your main working hours, the clock always seems to be against you. Between the office, your commute and daily household life, there never seems to be a spare minute. Are things that bad, though? Shane Mielke, creative director and author of Launch It – a book of career advice for creatives – suggests your time might not be as limited as you think. “Take an honest look at your day,” he advises. “Find things you might be wasting time on that are less important than your goal, or that you could be doing more efficiently. Things like social media, video games, commuting and inefficient work habits can all suck bits of time from our lives. If you can free up 30 minutes every day, that adds up to 180 plus hours in a year. Excuses are just excuses.” In Do Fly, Gavin Strange explains that it’s all about create good habits Gavin Strange, who works at Aardman in Bristol by day and pursues multiple fascinating side projects by night, offers an example of how that might look in practice. “For me, I find a routine that I try and stick to during the weekdays,” he explains. “I finish work at 6pm and then come home, eat dinner with my wife, watch a 30-minute TV episode – anything longer eats into the night too much – and then get cracking on ‘round two’, as I call it. Sometimes, when things get really busy, I get up an hour early before work to squeeze in extra passion projects, or get cracking on my lunch hour.” That might sound like a tough regime, But Strange – whose self-published book Do Fly serves as a motivational tract for creatives – sees it more as a matter of creating good habits. “It’s about finding the right pattern for you, or adapting how you already work,” he explains. “There’s no right or wrong way to do it. The hardest part is starting, but once you’ve got a tiny bit of momentum, it gets better and better.” Challenge 02: Finding the energy Ariana DeLuca finds the energy to reach her goals from the passion that she has about her projects. But what if you do manage to eke out some extra hours, only to find you don’t have sufficient energy to use them productively? “I think the amount of energy you have – or you think you have – relates to the amount of passion you have invested in your goals,” says Ariana DeLuca, a New York-based art director. “This is why I called my side project The Passionate Project, because making it was like falling in love. I was so excited, I had great energy, I had butterflies. I was getting home from work and I was staying up till 3am. To get on the computer and create this, and know I was doing something I absolutely loved, gave me that extra shot of energy.” Carolyn Porter, a graphic designer from Minnesota, tells a similar tale. Her love of old-time handwriting propelled her to create her own font, which mimicked the script of a real-life wartime letter. Carolyn Porter, author of Marcel's Letters, advocates tenacity as a tool to find creative energy. That project subsequently spun into a book, Marcel’s Letters: A Font And The Search for One Man’s Fate, which she based on the research she’d done into the letter’s original author. “I think if you find a project that you’re passionate about, you just have to be relentless and tenacious about bringing that project to life,” says Porter. “It may not be fast, it’s not going to be easy. But it’s ultimately worth it, and you just need to be tenacious.” Challenge 03: Life getting in the way All this can be easier said than done, of course, as life has a habit of getting in the way. A child or family member gets sick. The roof starts leaking. You’re handed a huge project at work and have to work later hours than usual. The solution? Accept that life is not perfect, sure… but don’t give up, and try to find new ways to hang on to your goals. "Sometimes life or other projects are more important,” says Mielke. “In life, you have to go where the fires are at. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still play mental Tetris with, say, the logistics of a side project, in those moments of the day that don’t have your complete attention: when you’re working out, in the bathroom, on your commute. The organisation and planning of a project or goal is the foundation and support of the physical action of the idea." A motivational quote from Shane Mielke’s Launch It experience And when things get sticky, Strange stresses one key word: positivity. “Just approaching everything you do with a positive mind state can work wonders,” he enthuses. “It presents obstacles as opportunities, which helps immensely when it’s 1.30am and you’re not sure if you can succeed. You need all these little boosts to help you through all of your creative endeavours.” Challenge 04: Finding the money Sometimes, your dreams don’t just demand your time and energy; they need a bit of seed money too. You might need some cash, for example, to pay for that course, print your own book or magazine, or to get you through the first few months of going freelance. The most obvious approach is to start watching the pennies and save up a nest egg. That’s not a particularly fun prospect, but make a few lifestyle sacrifices and keep a careful eye on your budget, and it should be achievable. Plus of course, if you’re foregoing that nice bottle of wine or subscription to Sky, it’s only going to help you find that extra time you need to pursue your creative goals. But what if you’re impatient to get started right now? That shouldn’t be a problem, says Mielke, it’s just a case of which part of your plan you get started on. “Google is free, and so research and planning costs you nothing other than time,” he points out. “So switch gears to a part of your plan that might be more organisational and can be done during free time at night or on weekends. “For example, if you’re wanting to self-publish a book about your favourite design topic, there’s nothing stopping you from researching how to get your book on Amazon, or making a list of possible printers who might print your physical book.” Lisa Maltby funded her children's book via Kickstarter, but it was "quite a challenge". Of course, saving is not the only solution to money issues. Alternatively, you could visit the bank and see whether they can offer you a loan, or equity release on your home. If they say no, try another bank or building society. We’re still in an era of quantitative easing, and you might be surprised how willing financial institutions are to lend to anybody with a track record of having a regular income and good credit score. Another source of potential cash might be crowdfunding. Lisa Maltby, a Sheffield-based illustrator, used Kickstarter to finance her ‘disgustingly distinguished recipe book’ for children, The Glorious Book of Curious Cocktails. (She's also the illustrator behind this article's opening image, High Hopes.) She managed to raise £5,600, although creatives commonly ask for, and often get, larger sums. Be warned, though: even free money doesn’t come for free, and you’ll probably have to do a lot of hustling in order to meet your target. Running a Kickstarter was like having another child; it was quite a challenge. Lisa Maltby “Running a Kickstarter was like having another child; it was quite a challenge,” recalls Maltby. “I have a wide network of people I’m connected with, so I was able to push for a few things, pull a few strings." "But even then it was really tricky to get articles about the campaign published, to get people to share it on social media. You are your own campaign, so you’ve got to fully drive it all the time. I got the funding, which is amazing, but this sort of campaign is not to be taken lightly. It’s really hard work.” Challenge 05: Building a strong network Even if you consider yourself a self-starter, the success of your creative dream often lies in the hands of other people. So having a strong network of contacts will help enormously, whether you’re seeking work as a new freelancer, looking for the right partner for a collaboration, or searching for a mentor as you develop your skills in a new creative field. Building up a decent list of contacts you can rely on doesn’t just happen by accident, though. Getting out there and introducing yourself to people, both on social media and in the real world, at things like creative events and meetups, is essential. Kate Moorhouse, a graphic designer from Manchester, very quickly learned the importance of networking when she went freelance. “I heard about a meetup group based in Sheffield and Manchester called Freelance Folk and popped down to see what it was all about,” she explains. Freelance Folk branding by Kate Moorhouse “I immediately got a friendly response from everyone. It felt like we were all in the same boat: finding our way, making the same mistakes. And it was nice to chat to like-minded people from different industries. Everyone had different disciplines, but the freelance side was common to us all.” It wasn’t just a psychological boost: the group helped her find work, too, she adds. “I met the founder, Katy Carlisle, at one of her Squarespace workshops and she asked me to redesign the logo for the group. In return, she helped me with some Squarespace support. Since then, whenever I go to the group, I meet someone new who I can either work for or work with. I’ve also collaborated with other freelancers from there, and I feel it’s a really natural way for us to work together.” Shanti Sparrow advocates social media as a method of getting your work known internationally. Challenge 06: Finding collaborators If your creative dream for 2018 involves collaboration, then its success will live and die on whether you choose the right partner. Tennessee illustrator Tammy Coron, who recently teamed up with Apple game developer Chris Language to create game design resource DayOfTheIndie.com, offers some pointers. Illustrator Tammy Coron teamed up with Apple game developer Chris Language to create game design resource DayOfTheIndie.com “Finding someone you trust and being honest with each other are vital,” she says. “One of the reasons Chris and I work so well together is because we speak our minds: we’re honest and open with each other. “We also share responsibilities and understand situations where one of us needs more time to focus on something else, without guilt from the other. And the best thing about our partnership is that we encourage and push each other to reach just past our abilities, in order to level-up our skills.” Challenge 07: Promoting yourself Whether it’s launching a passion project or your services as a freelancer, promoting yourself is key. That means not just networking with other creatives, but sharing your work more widely, on platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, Behance and Dribbble. This may sound obvious, but New York-based designer and lecturer Shanti Sparrow has seen the positive effects first-hand. “I’ve been a designer for nine years, but my freelancing outside of my main job has actually only kicked off in the last two,” explains Sparrow. “It was only when I started releasing my work onto social media channels that it happened. I was started to get contacted internationally, whereas before it tended to be people I knew through people I knew. But now it’s anybody who Googled a magazine and my thing came up, and they’re in China and want me to make them something.” Amy Kilner launched an Instagram channel to assist other creatives, @thedesignfix. There’s a lot of noise online, of course, and just posting stuff doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get attention, so it pays to get creative. For example, Rotherham-based designer Amy Kilner launched an Instagram feed called @thedesignfix this year, and it’s become a roaring success. “The way you get followers on Instagram is by getting your work featured on other pages,” she explains. So she essentially took the same idea and reversed it. “I launched my own page to help other creatives, and it just blew up,” she explains. “There are now around 40,000 posts on Instagram using the hashtag and I’ve got more than 18,000 followers on it. I’ve got these brand ambassadors promoting it, and it’s just growing. It’s still a work in progress but I’m doing something right.” Challenge 08: Accepting it’s not linear As the saying goes, ‘Man plans, God laughs’. In other words: whatever scheme you have to boost your career and achieve your dreams in 2018 may very well go astray. But that’s not a reason to not bother trying at all, more a realisation that you’re going to have to stay nimble, accept challenges head on and hope to enjoy as much of the ride as possible. “There’s this assumption that when you’re an adult you get everything locked down and sorted,” says Strange. “No way! I think these times are the most exciting; you’re more wise to the world and can make changes even more easily. It’s about being open and receptive to change, and eager to identify when something isn’t working for you and then making a change. It’s a never-ending process of analysis, assessment and action!” Related articles: Be a better designer in 2018 12 essential tools for graphic designers in 2018 How to start a side project: 21 pro tips View the full article

How many times have you thought about the things you wished you learned earlier in life? Here’s your chance to stop thinking about it and start doing it. The eduCBA Design and Multimedia Lifetime Subscription Bundle has the courses you need to pick up new skills, and you can get a lifetime subscription on sale now for 97 per cent off. When you login to eduCBA Design and Multimedia Lifetime Subscription Bundle, you’ll find hundreds of courses with actionable lessons waiting for you – and new ones are being added all the time. You’ll have unlimited access to more than 200 courses that will take you through tons of media and design essentials. Learn how to work with Photoshop, InDesign, Maya, Flash and much more. You'll have the ability to learn at your own speed and gain new skills. The eduCBA Design and Multimedia Lifetime Subscription Bundle usually retails for $797, but you’ll pay just $19 (approx. £14). That’s a saving of 97 per cent – a great deal for unlimited access to skills that could change your career! About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at:deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: How my kids ruined my design career 5 tips to kickstart your 3D career Build your perfect web career View the full article

My obsession with film has had a strong influence on the work I do nowadays. I learned most of what I know about visual language, atmosphere and composition from film. How to draw and paint - 95 pro tips and tutorials Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro, with his world of eerily beautiful monsters, haunting atmosphere and poetry in both image and narration, showed me what it can look like when you weave your own web of personal mythology and symbolism. So you can imagine my excitement when I was asked to create an homage to his work. I decided to create a collage of four of del Toro's films: Cronos, The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth and Crimson Peak. I'll be working with a mix of acrylic paint, coloured pencils and charcoal, to create an almost monochromatic picture. Download the resources for this tutorial. 01. Start with research Kick things off with a DVD binge and plenty of notes I watch the films, and take notes on recurrent and defining imagery and ideas. This leads to a messy array of words, phrases and scribbles – the foundation of my concepts. I also take screenshots of scenes that I might need for reference later on. 02. Create thumbnail sketches Sketch out some digital thumbnails I condense my notes into compositions, aiming to include elements from several films and to keep the dark atmosphere. Working digitally at this stage makes it easy for me to get a good idea of the overall shapes and tonal values I need to create a strong image. 03. Lay out your drawing Rough your ideas out and put them together in Photoshop Before I start working on the final artwork I want to make sure I won't run into any unexpected problems. By sketching both portraits separately and combining them in Photoshop, I get a good idea of how the artwork will look. Additionally, I can adjust proportions and add a few details to the concept. Get Adobe Creative Cloud 04. Transfer the drawing Print the layout and transfer it to watercolour paper I print the final layout and roughly transfer it to watercolour paper using an old lightbox. For this I'm using a charcoal pencil that will blend in nicely with the later painting. I also make sure not to apply too much pressure to the paper, so this initial drawing can be reworked easily. 05. Complete the underdrawing Establish the painting's foundation with a black pastel pencil At this stage I establish the foundation for my painting by creating a detailed drawing with a black pastel pencil. To avoid mistakes that would be difficult to correct afterwards, I use screenshots of the film, photos of hands and faces in the required poses and lighting, and the print of my layout drawing for reference. 06. Start painting Use diluted black acrylic paint to build up depth and volume I roughly block in the tonal values and continue to build up depth and volume using black acrylic paint that's been diluted with water. During this stage accidental splashes or smudges can and should happen. My goal is to create an organic, loose texture – precision will come later in the process. 07. Push contrasts Be careful with your use of black Getting the contrasts right is a key part of making my illustration work. Because pitch black can quickly seem dead and boring, it's important to be sure about where it's needed. 08. Focus on the details Switch to a smaller brush to paint in details Now is the time for precise brush work. For this I switch to a smaller-sized brush (0) and use it to introduce details to faces and hair, and texture the wings of the moth. I also define edges where necessary and work over pastel and charcoal markings to make them blend in more evenly with my painting. Next page: how to finish your design with shadows, splashes and highlights 09. Bring in charcoal shadows Wait for the paint to dry before reaching for the charcoal Before I switch to dry media I make sure the paint has dried completely to avoid nasty surprises. I like using charcoal to deepen dark areas even further without adding new marks or distorting the existing textures. I also use it to smooth the edges, in this case around the faces. For smudging I use my fingers. 10. Get splashy Add texture with splashes of acrylic paint I add splashes of acrylic paint to areas I want to gain more texture, whipping my brush around like a wand. If too many droplets accumulate in one spot, I use my fingers to wipe them off before they can dry. Areas I want to remain untouched by the paint can be covered with scrap paper. 11. Add some white Use gesso rather than acrylic for bringing in some white I use gesso to paint thin layers over faces, hands and hair to soften the underlying textures and lighten these areas. I work on details such as the eyes using opaque paint. I prefer using gesso over white acrylic paint because its chalky nature leads to a surface that takes dry media very well. 12. Introduce white noise White charcoal is perfect for adding texture I use white charcoal sticks to create broad textures that add some noise to darker parts of the artwork. I want the hair of the blonde figure (Edith) to fade to white towards the background, forming a contrast to the blackness behind the second figure (Ofelia). To achieve this I use the charcoal to lighten this area. 13. Draw in highlights Stick with the white charcoal for highlights and details I draw in highlights, the final details and dynamic lines with a white charcoal pencil. For extreme highlights I use a white coloured pencil by Derwent, which is very soft and creates brighter lines than the charcoal, but can't be revised or drawn over as easily because of its oily composition. 14. Keep the eyes engaged A handful of subtle colours will help keep things interesting To make the otherwise monochromatic image more engaging I use pencils to add a few colours, while keeping it subtle so I don't mess up my tonal values and contrasts. This makes the picture seem much more alive and interesting. Mostly, I use clay tones, but also add blue to light areas and green to contrast the reddish lines. 15. Check it on screen Finish things off in Photoshop After scanning the artwork into Photoshop CC I use Levels and Selective Colour to achieve the right contrasts. I also play around with the saturation of the image, to amplify the subtle colours of not only the pencil lines, but the different hues of the black and white paints. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 142; buy it here! Related articles: Tim Burton: the Iconic Filmmaker and his Work How to hold a pencil correctly How to build worlds for the cinema View the full article

A well-designed business card is more than just an extension of your brand. It’s an opportunity to make a lasting impression with prospective clients, drive new conversations, and attract exciting new career possibilities. Get it right, and your business card is a powerful self-promotion tool. But get it wrong and it doesn’t matter how much time you put into the design: your card will likely be taking a one-way trip to the bin. So what’s the secret to creating a memorable business card? How can you make sure yours stands out for the right reasons? And what are the common creative pitfalls to avoid? From essential information to include, to best-practice design rules and pro tips for preparing for print, we bring you everything you need to know to craft the perfect business card. 01. Choose the right size ordered five different business card designs from on square, round-cornered cotton card Before you jump into designing your business card, you need to choose your canvas. The most common business card size is 3.5 x 2 inches (89 x 51mm) if you’re in the US, or 3.37 x 2.12 (85 x 55 mm) in the UK. That’s roughly the size of a debit or credit card – which means it’ll fit into a wallet or purse. A more unusual shape can be a good way to differentiate your business card from others, but just remember that if it doesn’t fit into someone's pocket, it’s more likely to end up in the bin. 02. Business card design dos and don’ts created these bold business cards using ’s 100 recycled cotton option Once you know what size business card you’re designing, it’s time for the fun part: the creative. A brilliant business card will delight and engage viewers – but there are some classic design pitfalls you need to avoid. Follow these best-practice tips to make your business cards sing… Do: start the creative process with your key information You want to get the most out of your canvas, so always start with the core information you want to communicate – usually your name, job title, phone number, email address and website – and design out from there. Think about how you can use the space creatively to best communicate these details, as well as showcase your design skills or signature style. Don’t: over share Don't put your personal Facebook or Instagram accounts on your business cards – prospective clients don’t care what you had for breakfast, or that you went hiking at the weekend. Only include social accounts if they’re professional. Do: tailor your business cards Economies of scale might suggest you should design and print one business card for everyone, but think about your client base. If you’re pitching for typographic work, your business card shouldn’t look the same as a business card you’d give to a web design client, for example. One handy service to look into is Printfinity from print and design company moo.com, which lets you print a different design on every card – for no extra cost. Think of it as a portfolio in your pocket: you can showcase your best work in different fields to different prospective clients. MOO's service lets you print a different design on every business card – as demonstrated to striking effect here by Italian shoe-maker Idoni Do: print on both sides Never be tempted to save money by only printing on one side. Whether you opt to run your logo, showcase a piece of work from your portfolio or create a custom design that highlights your style, the other side of your business card plays a crucial role in attracting attention – so don’t neglect it. To that end, always make sure full-colour printing on both sides of your business cards is included in any quote you get from a printer. Don’t: include borders It might look slick on a screen, but it's best to avoid having a border on your business cards. If the card isn't perfectly cut, any misalignment in the trim will be instantly shown up. Do customise Subtle design decisions – such as choosing between square or rounded corners, or adding a coloured seam – offer an effective way to make your business cards stand out for the right reasons, and help prospective clients remember you. Don’t rely on gimmicks When it comes to customisation, remember that less is nearly always more. Business cards are designed to go in wallets, purses or pockets, as we've already said. Unusual shapes or materials might seem like an easy win for standing out from the crowd, but they can be difficult to store – which makes them more likely to be thrown out. In addition, gimmicky cards run the risk of distracting viewers from the important part: who you are and what you do. Unless you're confident that your unusual idea is really good – and we mean really, really good – don't do it. 03. Choose the right stock used 's Printfinity on Luxe Business Cards to create an eye-catching brand for Amperian While there's a huge variety of paper stock to pick from, your decision should be influenced by your colour palette, the impression you want to make and your budget. So what stock should you go for? Here's what you need to know... Thick card stock denotes quality and feels professional, so always aim for 300 gsm/14 point and above. Silk and gloss finishes feel polished and contemporary, and work particularly well for portfolio-style business cards that show examples of your work on one side. Colours look brighter on silk or gloss than they do on matte stock, too, because the ink doesn’t absorb into the fibres. However, matte stock can lend sophistication and elegance to your brand, and textured stock can bring an upscale feel. 04. Stand out with a special finish ’s luxury Cokoa project, printed at , shows the power of a special finish Gold foils, spot gloss and other special finishes aren’t just a smart move if you’re pitching to luxury or high-end clients. Used correctly, they’ll elevate your brand – and make your business card more memorable. Our best advice is to treat foil as its own colour: remember that it will be printed on top of your design, obscuring anything beneath it. Also, make sure your design includes some tolerance for mis-registration – the printing process requires heat and pressure, and registration can vary by around 1mm. Gloss, meanwhile, is a fantastic way to accent subtle details or enhance certain colours in your design (apart from dark, solid colour). Whatever you do, don’t go wild. The most effective business cards exercise restraint with special finishes – less is always more. And always make sure the finish reflects your brand. Never use a special finish for the sake of it. 05. Print checklist: essential rules to follow -printed business cards by for Think Twice Media Designing your own business cards is the ultimate brief. But it’s surprisingly easy to lose sight of the finer details when you’re your own client, so before you go to print, ask yourself whether you’ve covered the points below. (And yes, we know some of these sound obvious. You'd be amazed at how many times even the most professional designer forgets to include their website details or email address.) Here's your essential business card print checklist. Ensure your name, email address and phone number are clearly displayed Include your website, and add your logo if you have one Is it legible? Main text should be above 8pt Use a clean typeface; avoid thin or light fonts Go easy on decorative or script fonts Triple-check your spelling and grammar Is your kerning perfect? Keep important text 5mm from the trim Provide a 3mm-5mm bleed – check with your printer Work at 300dpi for best image reproduction Stick to CMYK unless you’re working only with spot colours Want to simplify the printing process even more? Try print and design company moo.com: you’ll find a host of fun, affordable, easy-to-use tools for transforming your designs into premium business cards that will turn heads – for the right reasons. MOO also offers a unique 'MOO promise', which means the team will do everything they can to make sure you love your business cards. If they spot a design error, they’ll let you know and fix the issue for free. And if you aren’t completely satisfied when your order arrives, they’ll fix the problem or give your money back. Don't forget: you’ll also find a wealth of stunning business card inspiration from professional creatives on MOO’s blog and Instagram space, both of which are over-flowing with first-class examples of business card brilliance. Related articles: 10 steps to go freelance this year View the full article

You're reading How To Create and Send Amazing Email Newsletters, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! When you’re sending email newsletters to grow your business, you need well-designed emails which will capture readers’ attention. An excellent design will encourage readers to view your site and can result in higher conversion rates. But how do you do it? We’ve gathered some tools and resources for building engaging emails. Tools for Designing Email […] View the full article

Cynthia Savard Saucier, director of design at Shopify and author of Tragic Design, will be sharing pro insight into how to keep your users safe at Generate New York 2018. Get your ticket now. In 2007, Cynthia Savard Saucier was backpacking across a remote area of Guatemala when her friend suffered a severe allergic reaction after eating a cereal that contained nuts. He always travelled with his dual injector, but as his muscles started to spasm, he was unable to inject himself. Cynthia managed to administer the first injection, but when they were on the boat speeding to the closest clinic, she tried to inject the second dose – and the device didn’t work. Cynthia read the very long instructions, but couldn’t work them out. Out of desperation she stabbed her friend’s leg 11 times, and finally it worked, probably because the syringe simply broke in his leg, saving his life. Later she found out that she had only needed to remove a little yellow piece at the end of the syringe but, in the crisis situation, she missed this ninth step on the double-sided sheet. “I realised that good design saves lives, and this is what I wanted to do,” Cynthia says. “As designers we are never really confronted with the consequences of our decisions, but we shouldn’t underestimate the impact we have on everyone’s life.” Cynthia’s experience eventually led her to co-author a book with fellow designer Jonathan Shariat. They started looking into other case studies of how certain design decisions have angered, saddened, excluded, injured, and even killed people. The result is Tragic Design, which explores the impact of bad design and what can be done to fix it. 01. Ask: ‘What’s the harm?’ The first step in avoiding such mistakes is to just ask yourself if you could kill someone. “Whenever we design as a group and discuss a feature that seems irrelevant – like shipping updates – we ask, ‘Can we kill someone with this?’” Cynthia, now director of user experience at Shopify in Montreal, explains. “It’s quite funny initially, but it really turns into a very productive design session. If someone is ordering medication and they don’t get it on time, what could happen? If someone is ordering something that is deeply sentimental and they have a deadline to receive it, what could happen if we can’t offer that deadline?” The second step is to work with product managers to make sure they understand that if a person could get hurt or killed, even if it’s just a small percentage and only in certain conditions, this needs to be prioritised. “It’s sometimes a little hard to make a case for it if maybe just one per cent could get impacted,” Cynthia admits. “But it’s worth making the process slightly longer for everyone if it’s benefitting a few people.” Generate speaker Cynthia Savard Saucier gives a talk on preventing tragic design 02. Make use of quasimodes There are a lot of tools and approaches you can use to avoid harming someone. Modes, for example, are always bad strategies for user interfaces. In the book, Cynthia and Jonathan tell a story of how a plane crashed, killing most people on board, because the pilot confused the flight path angle mode with the vertical speed mode in the interface. Instead you should use quasimodes with more than one visual feedback to show you that you’re in a certain mode. “When you want to erase an app on your phone and you hold it down, it starts wiggling or dancing,” Cynthia explains. “This is a really good example of a quasimode: you need to do something physical in order to change the mode. And then there are two feedbacks. There’s the ‘x’ and the wiggling, so that you’re sure that something is different. "Another good example of a quasimode is when you’re driving a car," says Cynthia. "If you want to go backwards, you need to change gears. Your hand is on something, so that you don’t go backwards all of a sudden without knowing and injuring or even killing someone.” 03. Anticipate user errors When critiquing any design, one simple but very useful technique is the user error chart. “Think of an information architecture tree with every type of user but the ‘happy path’ is only a small subset of users,” Cynthia suggests. “The other parts are all misuse and the errors and people trying to take advantage of – or even steal from – your product. You can print this chart and leave it on your wall for your team to see and make sure that every single piece of this tree gets considered. It’s not about designing everything – we don’t have unlimited resources – but it’s about making informed decisions as to what you’re ignoring.” Related to this is the fault tree analysis. You list all the errors that could happen and work your way back through all of the potential causes. “At the end of the analysis, not only do you have an amazing FAQ, but it also highlights all the potential downfalls that you should take into consideration and design safeguards for,” Cynthia enthuses. “If you know that someone could stab their fingers with the injector instead of the leg, make sure you have more than one visual cue. Use another sense and, for example, design the handle in a shape that teaches you how to hold it.” This article originally appeared in net magazine issue 304. Buy it here. Get your ticket for Generate New York now Cynthia Savard Saucier is giving her talk Tragic Design: The Impact of Bad Product Design at Generate New York from 25 - 27 April 2018 If you're interested in learning more about avoiding harmful errors in your web design, make sure you grab a ticket for Generate New York. Cynthia Savard Saucier, director of design at Shopify and author of Tragic Design, will be offering more insight into the harm bad design can bring and giving guidance on how to keep your users safe in her talk Tragic Design: The Impact of Bad Product Design. Generate New York takes place from 25-27 April 2018. Get your ticket now. Related articles: The 5 biggest mistakes that junior designers make 6 mistakes designers make – and how to avoid them 7 web design mistakes every beginner makes View the full article

Catching people on social media can be equal parts art and science. Attention spans are short, with users often scrolling quickly through their feeds, and dipping in and out of multiple conversations. Classic pitfalls when trying to engage people through social media campaigns include being too dry and corporate, or conversely, trying too hard to be 'cool' and missing the point entirely. Some campaigns hit the mark in some places, but might be culturally tone-deaf in others and face a backlash as a result. Brands such as Wendy's, Innocent and Oreo are all famously on-point when it comes to their social interactions across multiple platforms. And much of that comes down to brand voice and personality. Images can be hugely effective to grab attention and encourage social sharing, if you get them right. Read on for our five-step guide to using images more effectively on social media... 01. Tailor images to different platforms Netflix has run social campaigns for its shows that lay catchy quotes over engaging visuals, such as this example for Narcos First up, it's important to understand that an image that flies on one social network won't necessarily gain any traction on another. So it pays to tailor the images to the right platform. Beautiful, striking and evocative images tend to fare well on Instagram, particularly if they're simple and dynamic in composition. Conversely, Pinterest users respond better to pictures that have lots of detail and visual interest to explore, such as collections of handcrafted objects or inspiring interiors. Facebook users tend to share funny and entertaining images that have some kind of emotional resonance within their friend group. Twitter is much more fast-paced, and images that offer interesting information quickly fare better – such as Netflix's awareness-raising campaigns for its shows, which combine compelling quotes with striking promotional stills. As well as content, each social network also has its own guidelines for image dimensions, so take the time to optimise your campaign accordingly. Don't just crop and resize to try and squeeze a square peg into a round hole. 02. Have a clear goal for each image Reese's owned the criticisms about the misshapen chocolates in its 2015 range with a tongue-in-cheek social campaign Consider what the end-goal of your social campaign should be, and tailor the imagery and messaging accordingly. If its about general brand awareness, you can afford to be more abstract, but a coherent brand voice is still crucial. If you're selling a product, overtly promotional posts are unlikely to fare as well as humorous, clever or entertaining images that have shareable value in their own right - even if the product is prominently featured. One great example is Reese's Webby Award-winning 'All Trees Are Beautiful' campaign, which was an inspired tongue-in-cheek response to complaints about the misshapen nature of its Christmas Tree-shaped chocolates. Amusing 'love your body' inspired social media images were shared around the #AllTreesAreBeautiful hashtag, cleverly turning a negative online conversation into a selling point for the brand. 03. Consider why people will share it Another Webby Award winner, National Geographic's Friday Fact campaign employed the simple power of a beautiful image In a feed cluttered with noise, both welcome and unwelcome, people will only click on, share or like your campaign image if it genuinely resonates with them - so understanding the motivations of your target audience is essential. If you've run similar campaigns before, study all the data you have available to determine what images fared best with which demographics – Facebook Insights is particularly useful here. Or study the competition's most successful efforts, and why they worked. As a rule of thumb, shareable images are simple and manageable, and visually convey a message or piece of information that is easy to digest and recognise - something universal. They could be amusing, such as the Reese's example above – but not all brands can pull off humour, nor is it always appropriate. Useful or thought-provoking images, or images that make a canny observation on our everyday lives, can all touch a nerve if pitched right. Sometimes, it's enough just to have an image that's beautiful enough for people to want to spread around the internet. National Geographic's Friday Fact campaign on Facebook, for instance, combined a snippet of interesting information with a stunning photo – the perfect combination for that audience. 04. Pick images that tell a story quickly Oreo is a master of telling stories in a simple, quick and quirky way, always using its distinctive creme cookies as the star Appealing, shareable social images manage to combine a visually appealing subject with a layer of context as quickly and simply as possible. Visual shorthand can help tell more complex stories: it needs to be immediately clear which brand it belongs to, and quick and easy for a viewer to understand. As mentioned above, Oreo is well-known for its mastery of social imagery - producing a constant stream of fresh, original, relevant visual content for its various social platforms. These have included cookie-themed graphics for everything from Pride to the Mars Rover landings, and even a whole series of Vine videos spoofing classic horror films for Halloween. Different types of imagery can cater to different needs. For instance, photography is ideal when there's a powerful, unusual image that speaks for itself, whereas bold text over a bright, simple background puts all the onus on a particular message or quote. Illustrations, meanwhile, can help stimulate the audience's imagination, and give you more scope for abstract, surreal or unusual subject matter. 05. Design for short attention spans Famed for its quirky, mischievous social activity, Denny's used a simple 'zoom in' meme to create one of the most successful branded posts in Twitter history When attention spans are short, you need a way to hook people in – and sometimes a killer image alone isn't enough. Like any creative campaign, the ultimate goal on social is to create something compelling enough to stop people in their tracks, and spread it to their friends. Diner chain Denny's has built a reputation for being playful, silly and weird in its social campaigns - often poking fun at other brand, such as the Apple-baiting 'Pancake. Always available in golden' that accompanied a stack of mouth-watering syrup-drizzled pancakes. In that case, a quality stock image could theoretically have done the job - but the simple, playful spoof of a well-known ad was what hooked people in. Once of Denny's most successful social images to date was also pancake-themed, and was accompanied simply by "Zoom in on the syrup." Related articles: 5 unusually effective ways design studios show work 5 big-brand logos that pass the silhouette test 6 best collaboration tools for design studios View the full article

Microsoft is looking to target new speculative execution side channel vulnerabilities - similar to Spectre and Meltdown - with a new bug bounty program. View the full article

You're reading After Launching Firefox 59, Mozilla Pushes Firefox 60 to Developers, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Three days after launching Firefox 59, Mozilla pushed Firefox 60 to developers. If you missed news about Firefox 59, don’t worry. It’s a minor release. Well, unless you are a Mac user. Then, you’ll be glad to know that Off-Main-Thread Painting, a feature already backed in Firefox 58 for Windows, is now available. What Else […] View the full article

With so many new graphic design books published all the time, it can be tough to know which ones you need on your bookshelf – and which ones probably aren't worth your precious cash. So we've done the hard work for you. Whether you're after a present for yourself or a graphic designer friend, or simply want to bulk up your studio bookshelf, here are the 10 of the best graphic design books to read this year. 01. Paula Scher: Works Editors: Tony Brook & Adrian Shaughnessy Price: £55 Dubbed the most influential female graphic designer on the planet, Paula Scher needs little introduction. This stunning monograph from Unit Editions - 2,000 copies of which are available for pre order - covers the Pentagram partner’s early days in the music industry as an art director with CBS and Atlantic records, the launch of her first studio, and her 25-year engagement with Pentagram. According to the editors, the book is also a visual record of contemporary New York’s urban fabric, “indelibly transformed by the designer’s innovative approach to environmental graphics and identity design: from MoMA to Charter Schools; from the High Line to Shake Shack”. The 326-page book includes a long interview with Scher, and sections dedicated to her socially and politically motivated posters, New York Times Op-Ed illustrations and campaign work. We can’t wait to get our hands on a copy. 02. House Industries: The Process is the Inspiration Authors: House Industries Price: $29.57 / £35 Celebrated type foundry and design studio House Industries released this 400-page book in 2017. Packed with stories, case studies and handy advice, it’s dedicated to answering the question: where do you find inspiration? The books offers a fascinating dive into the minds of co-founders Andy Cruz and Rich Roat, and type designer Ken Barber – and it comes with a foreword from JJ Abrams, too. 03. The Visual History of Type Author: Paul McNeil Price: $75.82 / £60 This significant resource offers a comprehensive survey of the major typefaces produced since the advent of printing with movable type, in the mid-fifteenth century, to the present day. It’s arranged chronologically, showcasing over 320 typefaces either through their original type specimens or earliest printing. Each entry is supported by a brief history and description of defining characteristics of the typeface. if you’re into type, this is a valuable resource. 04. How To How To follows the career of one of the most successful living designers Author: Michael Bierut Price: $30.60 / £26.24 If you still haven’t read Michael Bierut’s excellent How to, then make 2018 the year you do. Protégé of design legend Massimo Vignelli and a partner at New York design firm Pentagram partner, Bierut – like Scher – has enjoyed one of the most successful careers of any living graphic designer. In this monograph, design manual and manifesto, he reveals his philosophy of graphic design, explaining how to use it to sell things, explain things, make things look better, make people laugh, make people cry, and – every once in a while – change the world. The book features more than 35 of Bierut’s projects, providing insights into his creative process, working life, relationship with clients and the typical struggles faced by any designer trying to bring innovative ideas into the world. Inspiring and informative, this is a must-read for any graphic designer. 05. Draplin Design Co: Pretty Much Everything Get an insight into Aaron Draplin's DIY work ethic Author: Aaron Draplin Price: $27.19 / £20.40 Aaron Draplin, the man behind the branding of Esquire, Ford Motors, and even the Obama Administration takes a look back on his amazing career so far in this heartfelt and pointed retrospective. Pretty Much Everything lives up to its title by tracing Draplin's career back to day one. Readers follow his life story as he sets off to university and forges a name for himself on the graphic design scene. Alongside shop talk there are plenty of charming personal anecdotes which give readers a genuine insight into the mind of the designer. As with any good graphic design book, there's plenty to enjoy here visually. Pages are packed with countless examples of his work, including everything from snowboard graphics to logo designs. Pretty Much Everything is a treasure trove of work and wisdom that any design studio could benefit from owning. 06. Logo: The Reference Guide to Symbols and Logotypes (mini) Logo is the go-to resource on the world's best logos A mini-edition of Michael Evamy's much celebrated logo bible was published in 2015, presenting more than 1,300 symbols and logotypes in pocket-sized format. This vast collection includes the work of iconic masters like Paul Rand and Saul Bass, as well as some of the most exciting work from contemporary and emerging designers, plus a series of short texts discussing recent developments in logo design. Here's what Pentagram partner Michael Bierut said: "The next time you are tempted to design a logo, take a look at this book. Chances are, it has already been done. By raising the bar, this wonderful resource will make better designers of all of us." 21 free ebooks for designers 07. Champagne and Wax Crayons Champagne and Wax Crayons is both entertaining and informative The debut book from freelance art director and illustrator Ben Tallon, Champagne and Wax Crayons is a deeply personal and brutally honest account of starting and surviving in the creative industries. Dealing with the freelance lifestyle, finding your place, developing and branching out into other areas among many other topics, it's a brilliant read for any creative – whether you're an illustrator, like Tallon, or not. 08. New Perspectives in Typography Collated by Henrik Kubel and Scott Williams, there's a typographic treat on every page New Perspectives in Typography is a typographic treat for designers and typophiles alike. Taking an A-Z approach to contemporary type design, it showcases the work of more than 100 designers – including David Peardon, Philippe Apeloig, Anthony Burrill and some more surprising entries too. Collated by Henrik Kubel and Scott Williams, founders of independent typographic studio A2/SW/HK, the book features 500 beautiful full-colour visual examples, alongside though-provoking essays exploring the past and future of type design. 09. Graphic Design Visionaries Fill the gaps in your knowledge with Graphic Design Visionaries Featuring 75 of the world's most influential designers, this book presents the story of graphic design through the inspiring personal stories alongside large, full-colour reproductions of their boundary-pushing work. It's arranged chronologically, and features the likes of M/M Paris, Wim Crouwel, Tom Eckersley, Stefan Sagmeister, Studio Dumbar, Irma Boom and more (not in that order). Incredibly informative and inspiring, Graphic Design Visionaries introduces many of the key designers every practitioner should know. Related articles: 15 designers' New Year resolutions for 2017 The 20 best magazine covers of 2016 The ultimate guide to logo design View the full article

Matt Tait gives a list of examples throughout history where politically motivated groups have used disinformation and hacking as part of a campaign to shape public opinion. View the full article

Knowing how to use social media is a skill in itself. For some, Twitter is a place to call out brands that have let them down, cut jokes or debate about the latest news. But used professionally, the social media platform can be a highly efficient way to land new work. One creative who's done exactly that is oil painter, writer and lecturer Cat Graffam. Earlier this week, she revealed that she's secured multiple gigs through Twitter – and all it took was a snappy, informative tweet pinned to the top of her profile. See her tips for creating a social media calling card below. Is it time for designers to leave Twitter? Since Graffam posted this tweet it's blown up, garnering thousands of likes and retweets from grateful creators. However she's keen to point out that she's not the first person to harness Twitter this way. "When I reformatted my current pinned twin to essentially mimic a mini-resume, it was not an original idea," she says. "Creators having been using similar formats on Twitter, because they know that it is the first thing people, including potential employers or clients, will see. My formatting strived to strike a balance between professional, and quirky, because that is my personality and work." Despite this, Graffam's tweet seems to have hit a nerve. "The reaction to the pinned tweet was immediate, gaining a couple hundred retweets within the first 24 hours. It broadcasted not only what my portfolio looks like, but the fact that I do many things beyond just painting. It also made contacting me extremely accessible, allowing my bio to be freed up and less cluttered with an overload of links." "In the next couple days after I put out my current pinned tweet, two clients reached out to me and commissioned me two well-paying paintings and a few people purchased prints from my website." Graffam recommends putting your best picture first because it will appear larger in a pinned tweet - here's how her's look One of the most surprising and fruitful responses came from the program director of the art and design department at Lasell College in Boston. "In the hours after I tweeted my work, he reached out to me to hire me for an adjunct professor position, which is what I am currently doing," says Graffam. "It happened to be perfect timing during the hiring process, and he'd been previously following me, but it signalled to him that I've taught before and was looking for work." "I'm honestly really surprised so many folks responded so positively to my advice about making a pinned tweet. I expected maybe a few people to retweet it – not a few thousand." Related articles: 50 design agencies to follow on Twitter 15 Twitter accounts every web designer should follow Meet the Twitter designer who shuns all social media View the full article

Intel is introducing hardware-based protections to its new chips to protect against the Spectre and Meltdown flaws that rocked the silicon industry when they were announced in early 2018. View the full article

At the AOI, many of our members are represented by agencies. But we also have many who aren't, as well as agent members, who abide by our ethical code of conduct and work hard to secure a richer industry through a great plethora of talent. Many illustrators ask us: is it essential to have an agent to be successful? To answer this question, we sought the insight of two AOI members who are currently thriving in their careers – both with and without agents. 5 classic mistakes to avoid when approaching an agent The benefits of having an agent Casper Franken of multi-award-winning studio Shotopop (represented by Bernstein & Andriulli, Valérie Oualid and Jacky Winter) talks about the benefits of having an agent, and tells us how working with an agent is all about communication… Shotopop is a London-based team of visual zealots Shotopop: "Although we are represented by three agencies, they each cover very different regions of the world, so luckily there's no overlap or difficulty. We're always very transparent in what we do and who we work with; for us it's all about being open and honest." "Our agents are like part of our studio. If we didn't have them, we'd need to employ people in their place. They complement and strengthen us, and we can't fault them. Pros include getting awesome projects to work on and not having to worry about contracts and red tape." Shotopop creates visuals and animation for clients including Netflix, Google and Smirnoff "An agent isn't someone who tells us what to do, they represent our interests. If you end up with an agent that starts giving you feedback, or comes between you and the client, you should reconsider the relationship." The benefits of representing yourself Meanwhile, Luisa Rivera shares how being unrepresented can allow you to be more self-sufficient… Luisa Rivera is a London-based illustrator originally from Chile Luisa Rivera: "Not having an agent has allowed me freedom because I am more in control of my own practice. I have learned a lot in the process: how to negotiate, manage a project, and create a more personal relationship with my clients. The cons are practical because you end up doing more work (that is, more admin). "I try to network and showcase myself as much as I can, either via email, finding blogs to feature my work or on social media. I show finished illustrations but also my process, because that helps others to understand my method. When I manage my commissions, I prioritise projects or clients that are meaningful to me. Luisa's clients include Penguin Random House, Reservoir Books and Air Canada "Communications have shifted in the last five years, allowing illustrators to engage more directly with art directors, so having an agent nowadays isn't mandatory. It will help if you want to focus on the creative side, and especially if you decide to work within certain industries like advertising. However, like in any relationship, you should find a good fit: someone you trust and who understands your work." If you’re seeking representation and don’t know where to start, find resources at the AOI. This article was originally published in issue 275 of Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Buy issue 275 here or subscribe to Computer Arts here. Related articles: The illustrator's guide to getting an agent 7 tips for deciphering agent contracts How to get more from your agent View the full article

Many web designers look for ways to add a big impact to their site designs, so that they'll grab the attention of their users. Methods have evolved over the years, from using a header graphic, to placing a slideshow under the landing page menu, to becoming full browser width – and now the vast majority of sites follow this same format. Today, the designs that win 'site of the day' on different web awards sites generally try and do something that's a little more unique than just having a giant slideshow and some parallax scrolling. WebGL is great for this. Adding an interactive element can really grab users' attention and show that this isn't the same as the other sites they've just visited. Create interactive 3D visuals with three.js To make a splash effect in this tutorial, a liquid, reflective surface will be added, and this will be animated towards the camera with rolling waves moving forward. There will also be particles that move forward to complete the look and feel. In the centre will be the site's logo, and the whole scene will react to the user's mouse movement so that the content shifts and makes the 3D really stand out. The logo design is rendered as a transparent PNG, so this can easily be customised to your own design. The lights will also animate so that the colours will orbit around and highlight different waves within the scene. Download the files for this tutorial. 01. Initial variables Open the start folder from the project files and drag this into your code editor. Open 'index.html' and you will see that the JavaScript libraries have already been linked up for you. Inside the empty script tags is where the code will go. Here WebGL is detected to make sure the project can be run, then a whole range of variables are added that will be used in the scene. 02. More variables The next block of variables handle how large the water floor should be and the speed that it will move along with initial mouse positions. The centre of the screen is worked out and the improved noise library is being used to create the surface of the water. 03. Calculating the mouse Some final variables are added for the post processing effects of the scene. An event listener is added that checks the mouse movement. The scene is going to move in the display port to react to mouse movement. The function that is added here works out the amount of movement being allowed. 04. Post processing settings The 'params' function is where all the settings for the post processing effects will be stored. If you need to change anything, this is the place to do it. The tilt shift blur is covered in the first four lines, then the film pass in the remaining lines. This is mainly for the screen intensity and noise intensity. 05. Final parameters The last of the parameters is for the dark vignette around the edge of the screen. The 'init' and 'animate' functions are called to run. The 'animate' function will be created much later in the tutorial, but the 'init' function is created here. The camera and scene are set up to allow viewing of the 3D content. 06. Letting the light in In order to see the content of the scene, four lights will be placed. The first is a hemisphere light, which is used just to get the basic ambience of the scene. Next up is the centre light that is adding a light blue light in the middle of the scene. This is set off to one side in order to give some light to the whole scene. 07. Animated lights The next two lights to be added. 'PointLight' and 'PointLight2' are coloured lights that will circle in opposite directions around the scene so that the light changes constantly in the view. The first is a pink light and the second is an orange light. The path and format for the reflection images are set in the last two lines. 08. Shiny surfaces The liquid surface will have a reflective, shiny surface and this is done by creating a reflection cube. This is a cube with a 360-degree skybox placed inside it, which will be reflected onto the surface of the liquid. The 'urls' array contains the images to be loaded, then the material is set up. 09. Setting up some groups The mover group will contain some particles that will be added later, while the floor group will contain the surface of the liquid. A new 3D object is created that will hold that surface. There will be two liquid surfaces; one will have the reflective material and the second will have the wireframe 'floorMaterial', as defined here. 10. Making the surfaces When the first liquid surface is added the reflection map on this is very obvious and the fog helps blend the background and surface together The two liquid surfaces are created here as 'floorMesh' and 'floorMesh2'. They are positioned and placed inside the 'floorGroup' then rotated to a good viewing angle in front of the camera. This isn't directly flat, but slightly angled as it looks better like that. 11. Adding floating particles Floating particles fill out the scene, and when all of this is animated in the render function, it brings a sense of movement towards the camera The section of code here creates an empty geometry object and then places into it 2,000 vertices that act as the particles. These are distributed at random positions on the X, Y and Z axis. These will float just above the surface of the liquid floor. 12. Creating the look The material defined here will set how the particles look. An image was loaded in the previous step and that is used as the image on each particle, once the material is created. This is then applied to each point of the geometry for all of the particles. These are then added into the scene. 13. Adding the logo Adding in the logo, which is a transparent PNG image, places this in the centre of the scene, and is easy to replace with your own logo later A logo will be placed into the centre of the screen and this will be added onto a flat plane that will face the camera. The logo is made slightly transparent and given an additive blend so that it is more visible when lighter objects pass behind it. This is positioned and placed into the scene. 14. Adding the render settings The renderer is set up to have smooth, anti-aliased edges and now the background colour is set. This is added into the body of the document so that the scene is on the HTML page. The post processing effects are set up by having various render and shader passes initialised. 15. Making the pass Once the film and glitch pass are added, an effect composer is created that composes all of the passes together. These are added one by one to the composer and it will eventually be rendered out to the screen for audience display. 16. Closing the 'init' function The last few settings are added for the initialisation of the scene. The parameters for post processing are set, the setting of the waves is called and an event listener is added for whenever the browser is resized. This enables the display to be updated to fit the new dimensions. 17. Setting up the waves The waves are created now for the surface of the liquid. This is done by moving through each vertex of the floor geometry on the x and z axis and moving it upward on the y axis. At this stage the 'for' loops are created for the x and z axis. 18. Making waves Not all the vertices will be scaled upwards in the same way. Those furthest away from the camera will be large, then the sides will be slightly less, and those nearest the camera will be scaled the least. This makes the back and sides slightly more interesting to look at. 19. Resizing and animating When the window is resized, the function here is called from the listener that was set up in step 16. The camera, renderer and composer are all reset in here to match the new dimensions of the window of the browser. The animate function just sets itself at 60fps, calling the render function to update the display. 20. Every frame of action The render function is called every frame. The point lights are set to orbit around in the scene and the camera is positioned according to the mouse movement, with a little easing so that it moves gradually into place. The camera is set to always look at the centre of the scene. 21. Final steps Every so often one of the post processing effects runs a glitch effect on the screen just to liven up and distort the screen, before returning to normal In the final step the particles are moved forward on their individual vertex, and if they get to the camera, they are placed back into the distance. This is updated and the setWaves function is called to make the waves roll forward. The scene is rendered by the effects composer. This article was originally published in issue 270 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 270 here or subscribe to Web Designer here. Related articles: Get started with WebGL using three.js 20 amazing examples of WebGL in action Build your own WebGL physics game View the full article

The web is an exciting place, with new developments happening all the time. You can get in on the action by picking up the skills you need to become a web designer with the Learn to Web Design Bundle. This incredible course bundle is on sale now for a price you choose. No matter what area of web design you're interested in, the Learn to Web Design Bundle is packed with the know-how you need to become a talented developer with the skills to succeed. It has more than 75 hours of actionable content, all spread across nine professionally taught courses on everything from using Photoshop to coding with HTML and CSS. Boost your abilities so you can create great work online for fun or land your dream gig. The Learn to Web Design Bundle usually retails for $1,238/ (approx) £886. Right now, you can pick the price you pay for it. Beat the average to unlock it all or get on the leaderboard. The price is up to you but you can't go wrong, so grab it today. About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at:deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: The future of web design The best colour tools for web designers 5 articles to improve your web design career View the full article

As a designer, you’ll often have a great concept for a project, but the cost of commissioning an illustrator will be beyond the project's budget. You could always put your creative skills to the test with some Illustrator tutorials and vector art tutorials. Or you could save yourself a lot of time and effort, and opt to use stock art from one of these great stock websites. The good news is that these days online stock art sites are no longer limited to a handful of tired cliches. Instead, they feature a huge and eclectic variety of illustrations in various styles and sizes, created by thousands of talented illustrators. There are many stock art sites out there, from larger companies where illustration is only part of their offering, to smaller sites focusing purely on illustrators – and with anything from a tiny handful of artworks to a more extensive roster. Below is a list of some of the best sites for you to check out. We hope you find what you're looking for. 01. Adobe Stock Adobe Stock lets you instantly try images out in your CC apps Adobe Stock is as slick as you'd expect it to be. It integrates with all your CC apps, making it easy to preview a stock illustration or vector within your designs and then licence it if it fits your needs. Packed with high quality photography, vectors and illustration, it's also a great platform for selling your own artwork. If you want to give it a test drive, Adobe offers a free 30-day trial with 10 images thrown in. 02. Getty Images Getty Images is best known for photos, but also features a lot of stock art Getty Images is huge. It mainly deals in photography, but its library also includes hundreds of thousands of illustrations, all searchable via a comprehensive and easy-to-use search panel, and covering every subject you could think of. The stock art on offer here tends to lean more towards a clean and contemporary style. 03. iStock iStock has an extensive range of stock art One useful feature of iStock's site is that it allows you to filter search results by dominant colour. You can also find the empty space you're seeking in the design for text, and display your results accordingly. This is hugely refreshing given the amount of time it can sometimes take to find the right illo. iStock's illustrations are a little more vector-based than most on this list. But its range is extensive and relatively inexpensive. 04. Shutterstock It's not just photographs at Shutterstock – there's plenty of artwork too Although you might think of it as a photography library, Shutterstock features a vast amount of stock art among its ever-expanding collection of imagery. Whether you're after sleek vectors, eye-catching illustrations or simple clip art, you should easily be able to find what you're looking for on the easy-to-navigate site with its useful keyword search tool. 05. YouWorkForThem YouWorkForThem's mission is to be the world's best source for design resources YouWorkForThem has been curating unique niche and designer-oriented stock graphics for decades (not to mention fonts and photos too). The service currently provides over 76,000 graphics from over 400 different artists and designers, all with easy, affordable licenses – with custom license options available too. 06. Solid Stock Art Solid Stock Art boasts just one simple-to-understand licence If you're confused by licenses, then Solid Stock Art should be right up your street. Built by artists and founded, it says, on common sense, Solid Stock Art's only licence works on the basis that you buy something from its large, well-organised range and it's yours to do with as you wish – unlimited prints, views and re-use. The only thing you're not allowed to do is resell or share artists' images. 07. Old Book Illustrations Here you'll find vintage illustrations scanned from old books If you're looking for a vintage style of imagery, this site is great – and also free. All the images are scanned from old books and in the public domain, so there are no rights hassles to deal with. It's a beautiful collection: categories include plants, animals, buildings and monuments, ornaments and patterns. 08. The British Library A huge collection of over one million images The British Library has shared over one million images in this public domain collection on Flickr. Much of it is old-style illustration and artwork; there are also thousands of photographs, maps, vintage advertisements, botanical drawings, vintage comics and other interesting images. 09. Flickr: The Commons The Commons shares hidden gems from around the world This project seeks to bring together and organise the artworks and photograph collections that are made publicly available by a range of institutions, such as universities, museums and libraries. 10. Stock Illustrations You'll find contemporary stock illustrations here Stock Illustrations features contemporary stock illustrations (er, the clue's in the name) suitable for the world of advertising, graphic design and publishing. Whether you're looking for a particular style, subject or work by a specific artist, there's a great search facility to help you find the right images for your project quickly. 11. Ikon Ikon houses a range of stock art, viewable by style and subject Ikon’s website seems quite mysterious – there’s a bit too much style over usability, so browsing takes some time. But it does house a good range of stock art, viewable by style, including photo illustration, vector, digital and line art, and subjects ranging from beauty and fashion, to transport and characters. 12. Image Zoo Image Zoo's stock art is reminiscent of an earlier age Image Zoo has a large collection of traditional illustrations, searchable by keyword, artist name or subject (which effectively means the individual image name). The images are, in general, less contemporary than some of the other stock art sites listed here, and slightly reminiscent of traditional educational textbook illustrations. 13. Folioplanet The stock art on Folioplanet is sorted by illustrators rather than their work Filtering the work on Folioplanet sorts the illustrators themselves rather than their work, so it'll take some time if you simply want to browse by subject. There is a word-specific search function if you have something particular in mind, although it displays results as portfolio matches, so you'll still have to click through to view the results. 14. The iSpot iSpot features stock art from a range of talented artists The iSpot website has a huge number of traditional illustrations on offer – you're unlikely to find renderings here. Many different styles are covered, from a range of talented artists. You can search for stock art using keywords for category, subject, style and medium, as well as the artist's name and the date it was uploaded. Related articles: The 22 best places to find free vector art online Best free fonts for designers The best computer for graphic design View the full article